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UN / UAV
STORY: UN / UAV
TRT: 2.48
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 JUNE 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
26 JUNE 2013, NEW YORK CITY
2. Zoom in, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Hervé Ladsous, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
“Before long, those unmanned aerial vehicles will be flying in the skies of the DRC doing what they are intended to. Three things; one, give the best information to the Force Commander; second, giving thereby better protection to our people on the ground and also, let us not forget, to the civilian populations including the IDP camps that the General mentioned. I think this is a major tool for enhancing the safety and security of all those concerned. And third, not least, deterring the ruffians or miscreants or whatever you might call them, you know, who will simply know that there is an eye in the sky watching what they are doing.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. Med shot, dais
8. Wide shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, Force Commander, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO):
“I hope that in September we are going to be fully operational, and it’s a new asset of extreme importance to get information, to support our decision making process, and from Congo I think that we are going to have influence in how this system will work in the United Nations, because if our lessons will be valuable we can replicate the system in different missions.”
10. Wide shot, dais
SOUNDBITE (English) Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi, Force Commander, The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“The importance of information collection and verification to decide where and how to launch troops cannot be under-emphasised at all, particularly in South Sudan where as I said earlier, trafficability is very, very limited. For now however, we obtain information by use of patrols. We depend on a forward looking infrared device or FLIR for short, which is mounted on Rwandese helicopters. But we have only one and that’s why we seek additional. Therefore, the issue of UAVs for South Sudan can be welcome.”
11. Med shot, journalist
12. Wide shot, end of press conference
The United Nations top peacekeeping official today (26 June) told the Security Council that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will soon be flying in the skies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), “doing what they are intended to.”
Hervé Ladsous, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said the main function of the UAV’s will be to provide “the best information to the Force Commander” and thereby giving “better protection to our people on the ground” as well as to the civilian population and IDPs.
Ladsous said UAVs are “a major tool for enhancing the safety and security of all those concerned” and will be useful in “deterring the ruffians or miscreants or whatever you might call them, you know, who will simply know that there is an eye in the sky watching what they are doing.”
Military leaders from three United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa also briefed the Council on the need to support the Blue Helmets under their command and help them better assist local authorities and protect the people of the countries in which they serve.
At a later press conference, Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, Force Commander of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), noted that there is a need for peacekeepers to match the increased technological and military capabilities of the armed groups they face.
The topic is particularly relevant to MONUSCO as the Mission is due to receive UAVs to counter imminent threats to the civilian population. These large cameras would be used identify armed groups’ Headquarters and logistics hubs, and to collection information about the groups.
Dos Santos Cruz said he expected UAVs to be “fully operational” in the DRC in September.
He said this was “a new asset of extreme importance to get information, to support our decision making process, and from Congo I think that we are going to have influence in how this system will work in the United Nations, because if our lessons will be valuable we can replicate the system in different missions.”
Sharing the podium, Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi, Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) highlighted “the importance of information collection and verification to decide where and how to launch troops."
He added that this was particularly relevant in South Sudan where "trafficability is very, very limited.”
Johnson Sakyi said that currently the Mission depends on Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) devices mounted on Rwandese helicopters.
He said that the Mission only has one such device and “therefore, the issue of UAVs for South Sudan can be welcome.”
The force commanders are in New York on an annual one-week meeting aimed at sharing ideas about their common goals of supporting peace efforts in their countries of work, and challenges on how to tackle common problems.
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